As a westerly breeze backs off the Bay of Plenty today, City Mayor Stuart Crosby is crediting pre-cyclone preparations in helping Tauranga come through Lusi with little damage.

The highest amount of rain recorded in the region at the weekend was 84mm at Tauranga, with wind gusts peaking at 90km/h just off the coast yesterday.

A downed tree in Rosewood Lane. Photo: DJ McFarlane.

Tauranga City Council is reporting some minor stormwater flooding, downed trees and wind damage across the region, but nothing that caused significant damage.

'The community actions and council's storm response protocol meant that we were as prepared for this event as we could have been,” says Stuart.

'Luck plays some part in how we are affected by these major events, but good preparation was a significant factor in having no major flooding reported over the weekend.”

Council contractors cleared debris from more than 100 stormwater grates at 60 specified locations around the city, leading up to the storm.

There were also 36 beach and dune stormwater outlets checked as part of the process, and sandbags were distributed to sites vulnerable to flooding.

City contractors and council's incident management teams monitored the situation during the weekend and continued to clear debris at hot spots, says Stuart.

'Most of the storm activity related to downed trees and wind damage and there is a significant amount of debris strewn across the city. This will be cleared as quickly as possible over the next few days,” says Stuart.